


Unread Texts

by Pegasus143



Series: DBH Rarepairs Week [6]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Elijah Kamski, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed Are Not Related, Homophobia, M/M, Pre-Canon, Prosopagnosia, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, all the characters are absolute trash except Amanda, dbhrarepairsweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:41:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23474125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasus143/pseuds/Pegasus143
Summary: Feeling the pressure of being a prodigy teenager, Elijah Kamski can't even bear to check his phone. Gavin is pissed at him for this, for potentially good reasons.
Relationships: Elijah Kamski/Gavin Reed
Series: DBH Rarepairs Week [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1484246
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Unread Texts

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for DBH Rarepairs Week 3, Day 5: **Jealousy** / ~~Heartfelt Moment~~
> 
> I used the "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings" tag because this fic contains some allusions to underage sex that could also fall into non-con depending on your interpretation of the situations presented. This fic does not contain any graphic depictions of violence or major character death.
> 
> This is compliant with my New Jericho Tower series, and comes before all the works in that series since it is pre-canon. It can be read as a standalone work, and doesn't contain any major spoilers for the series.
> 
> I listened to the song "Good For You" from Dear Evan Hansen while writing this.

The phone on Amanda’s desk started ringing, a dull tone that couldn’t even be described as a ring. Elijah munched on his ham and cheese sandwich, willing it to stop ringing before the sound got stuck in his head for the rest of the day and gave him a headache. He reached for his phone in his pocket, wanting some music to drown the sound out, but stopped when he remembered how Gavin had been texting him all night and morning. Seriously, it wasn’t _that_ big of a deal that he’d skipped that stupid teen socialization and support group. It wasn’t like he needed to go anyways – he had a boyfriend, and a mentor, and an android he was helping with (well, at least the skeleton of one). How much more socialization did he really need?

He really didn’t want to read all those messages.

Finally, the phone stopped ringing. Breathing a sigh of relief, he crumpled up the brown paper bag he’d packed his lunch in and tossed it into the trash can. He pulled his university-issued laptop towards him, tearing off the sticky note attached to the screen so he could get started on his afternoon of work. The first item of the list read “skin retraction code” in Amanda’s pristine cursive, which he could barely read. It would have to do, since she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, because of an appointment or something? He wasn’t sure, his brain having jumped tracks after she mentioned working on the code for Chloe’s skin nanobots during their conversation the day before. 

At the thought of the android, he glanced over at the wall containing his and Amanda’s various sketches and notes. There was one sticky note that looked to be coming off – a list of chemical properties required for the android’s internal signaling system. He got up to fix it, his hand accidentally brushing against the bouquet of roses on Amanda’s desk, causing a petal to fall. He picked the petal up, intending to throw it away before it somehow reminded him of his sister – she’d texted him… something about the baby she was expecting? He reached for his pocket to check what she’d said, but then remembered the barrage of texts Gavin had probably left him, texts he _couldn’t_ answer right now because he was supposed to be working, even though he was going to be alone for the rest of the day, so maybe he could—

The door was thrown open, making a loud slam against the wall. Wincing, he turned around to face the person who’d interrupted: a teenager like him, messy brown hair, bandages across his nose and one of his cheeks. “Well? You feel bad for not answering me _now_?”

That voice. It was Gavin. “What are you doing here?” Elijah asked, scanning the bandages as he tried to figure out what had happened.

“Check you phone, smartass,” Gavin said as he closed the door behind him, leaving the two of them in the office by themselves.

Elijah pulled out his phone and unlocked it. The number of unread notifications was more than he’d ever had in his life.

**_Tuesday, February 13th, 2018_ **

**Calendar:** “Mandatory” Socialization in 15 minutes

**Gav:** hey

**Gav:** where r u

**Gav:** u coming 2 grp

**Gav:** or r u too cool for us normal teens, mr master’s student??

**Gav:** whatever

**Calendar:** “Mandatory” Socialization now

**Gav:** txt me when you can

**Gav:** it’s important

**Gav:** hope you’re not ignoring me

**Gav:** thinking abt telling mom abt us

**Gav:** should I do it?

**Sis:** Sorry I’m going to have to cancel our plans on Friday! I think Michael & I are going to head to the hospital soon.

**Sis:** Text me if you can, I could use a distraction from the pain.

**Gav:** answer ur phckn phone

**Gav:** seriously

**Gav:** I need you

**Gav:** phck, don’t break any lab beakers or anythin cuz glass hurts

**Gav:** and don’t tell me its not tht kind of lab, I know that

**_Wednesday, February 14th, 2018_ **

**Sis:** Hey, it’s Michael.

**Sis:** Just wanted to let you know that you’ve got a nephew! His name is Gabriel, everything went well.

**Sis:** Drop by and visit when you can, and bring some flowers for your sister. I’d do it myself, but I don’t want to leave her ;)

**Amanda:** Just reminding you that I’m not going to be on campus today. Text me if you need anything. I left a list on your laptop (which you left in my office) so you’ll see it. I asked one of my colleagues to get you out of there at five. Don’t want you to overwork yourself!

**Gav:** Elijah 

**Gav:** please answer

****

**Gav:** please

****

**Gav:** I can’t go back

****

**Gav:** I need your help

****

**Sis:** Michael again. Your sister told me to tell you happy Valentine’s day, and that she expects complete details about whatever girl you get with tonight when you come visit.

****

**Michael:** I’m deleting this message right after sending it so your sister doesn’t see it. I know today might be hard for you. Text “roses” to me if you need me to help you come up with a cover story about your V-day for when you visit. I know you don’t usually ask for help, but you’re like a little brother to me. I don’t want you to get hurt.

****

**Michael:** One more thing before deleting messages. I think I’ve made a mistake. A big one. I’m going to try and do my best for Gabriel, but don’t expect me to stick around after he’s turned 18. You’re a great kid, and she’s a beautiful woman, but you know how controlling she is. There’s just too much clashing there.

****

**Gav:** I really need you

****

**Gav:** im coming to the lab

****

“Well?”

****

Elijah looked up – rather, attempted to. It hurt too much to look Gavin in the eye. “What happened?”

****

Gavin made a sound that fell somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “Couldn’t piece it together, smartass?” Usually Gavin calling him a smartass didn’t hurt at all. Now it stung. “Turns out my egg donor likes throwing glass plates at gay people. Phcking lucky it didn’t land in my eye.”

****

Elijah’s mind turned, looking for something, _anything_ , to say. He didn’t have a script for this.

****

Something changed in Gavin’s face, and his tone grew more tolerable. “Listen… can I stay with you? I can’t go back.”

****

Of course he wanted something. _Of course._ Everyone always wanted something from him. Sometimes, Elijah wondered what would happen if he disappeared one day, what everyone would do without him. Would they really care? He always hoped that Gavin would. Then again, no one expected perfect grades, a social life, a girlfriend, weekly visits, and an entirely new and complex AI technology from _him_.

****

Gavin’s face changed again. “You don’t want to ruin your _perfect_ image, do you. Being seen with me. A delinquent. I get it. I’ll leave, and you won’t see me ever again.” There was a snarl in his voice that Elijah never wanted to hear again.

****

“No, wait! You can stay at my dorm, as long as you need. I’ve got a single, so we won’t have to worry about anyone else.” This was the one time that being an almost sixteen-year-old college student had worked in his favor.

****

Gavin smiled before taking a step forward and pressing a firm kiss to Elijah’s lips. “I knew you’d come through.”

****

Elijah glanced around the room, remembering to put his laptop and Amanda’s note into his backpack before slinging it onto his back. “Let’s go. Amanda won’t care if I leave early today.”

****

“She gone?” Gavin asked, following Elijah as he turned off the lights and headed out.

****

“Out today for an appointment. She would’ve wanted me to leave early anyways, since it’s Valentine’s and all…”

****

Gavin gave a low whistle. “Gonna take me out for dinner?”

****

Elijah shrugged. “If you wanted, we could skip the dinner and start dessert early.”

****

Gavin gave that odd smile that could possibly be called a smirk. “Well, if that’s the case, then I’m all in, babe.”

****

Elijah let his hand find Gavin’s, clamping hard around his boyfriend’s. He was going to make sure the both of them completely forgot about all of this by morning.

****


End file.
